Brown or Williams? The Case for Each Quarterback

By now, University of Washington football players should have a fairly good idea of who will start at quarterback against Nebraska next Saturday in the middle of the country.

The rest of us, not so much.

Definitive preparations for the Cornhuskers game will begin with a Sunday practice and the competition between Elijah Brown and Demond Williams Jr. most likely was decided coming into it after much discussion following a week of those two sharing the job.

Do you feel compelled to go with the hot hand provided by Brown, who replaced an injured Williams and has thrown for 6 touchdowns over three halves and led the UW to a 38-26 victory at Purdue?

Or do you put the ball back in the hands of Williams, a 21-game starter who has struggled all season and no doubt still has tender ribs?

The key is not to make an emotional decision with either player.

After all, Brown has been a back-up quarterback for most of three seasons at Stanford and Washington, and it's still unclear whether he can continue to excel long term.

Nor do you automatically hand the job back to Williams simply because it was once his after he slumped badly for the first time in his career, plus Husky coach Jedd Fisch tends to build relationships that don't end abruptly.

It's unclear whether the UW (4-3 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) will even reveal its starting quarterback before Saturday's kickoff at Nebraska (5-2, 2-1).

Demond Williams Jr. turns up in a tunnel of light as he joins his UW teammates in the shadows. | Dave Sizer photo

The first criteria is what have you done for us lately?

Brown is 1-0 as a UW starter while Williams is 0-3 over the past month.

Then again, Brown is 2-3 as the first-team QB at his two schools, while Williams is just 12-9 as Husky QB1.

Brown no doubt feels better about his game right now than Williams does with his.

How has each guy dealt with recent adversity?

Brown survived a 3-interception outing at Purdue and won, while Williams got sacked and fumbled away a game-winning touchdown runback to USC while the Huskies let a 21-10 lead slip away.

Each guy could use a little better field awareness.

Elijah Brown sets the play in the UW Spring Game. | Dave Sizer photo

Who gives you the best chance to beat the Cornhuskers?

It's really unclear whether either one of these quarterbacks has the moxie to go into Lincoln, Nebraska, where the stadium gathering turns into the state's third-largest city on game day and is an intimidating place, and come home with a victory.

At 6-foot-2, Brown sees the field better than Williams, who is three inches shorter.

Williams provides a dual-threat quarterback while Brown does not.

Brown counts career wins only over Purdue and California as a starter, while Williams has just one victory as the lead guy over a ranked team in No. 23 Illinois a year ago.

The signature win remains elusive to each guy so far.

So who gets the starting call at Nebraska?

Brown.

He likely is healthier, feeling a tad more confident and has something to show for his recent efforts, but he should be kept on a very short leash.

If Brown doesn't get the offense moving right away, the UW should consider inserting Williams right away and ask him to provide a spark.

Williams likely has had a good chance to assess his subpar play and his struggles aren't going to last forever.

He's still the speedy guy who would command a lot of interest should he ever consider entering the transfer portal again.

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